My ever-faithful back-up phone

I received this phone in May of 2006 as a GoPhone, purely to use in case of emergencies that should occur while driving. I had just gotten my driver's license, which led to getting a phone.

Once we dis-continued my GoPhone usage and started me on a plan, the Nokia was placed in a drawer and seemingly forgotten about.

Recently when my previous phone, a Samsung A727, lost its battery, I dug the Nokia out and used it again. And it was ready and willing to send the thousands of texts that I do monthly.

This phone is rather basic, of course. But when I'm at my wits end with my current phone and just need something that works, the Nokia serves me excellently.

It gets great signal, has a very easy user-interface, is very easy to text on (buttons protrude from the surface of the phone), has a very loud ringer for noisy environments, and is rather durable. I've dropped it many times and it's fine.

The only quirk this phone has is that it randomly shuts off. But in the week to two week spans I usually have to use it, it will only shut off maybe twice. I attribute it to the phone being almost three years old and not accustomed to my heavy amount of texting and calling.

Back in Black

I recently signed up with Cingular's top Pick Your Plan tier in order to talk to family members on opposite coasts with the unlimited mobile-to-mobile deal. Instead of going with one of the low-end Nokias like the 6010 or the Moto V173, I paid full retail for the 6030 and haven't regretted it one bit.

Pros:

+Great loudspeaker, even better than the Razr and V710+Sleek, stylish blackness+Strong reception+FM radio through speaker (with attached headset)+Small and lightweight+Good battery life, even in low-signal areas

Cons:

-Battery cover doesn't seat well, feels creaky when handling phone and pressing buttons-Prone to smudges and fingerprints-Screen could be brighter-Signal and battery indicators difficult to read

Some of my gripes might seem like nitpicking, but that's a testament to the phone's overall quality. I fixed the creaking problem by inserting a sliver of 3x5 index card between the battery cover and the frame (not touching the battery). There isn't anything to be done about the signal indicators or the screen, but these are minor complaints when compared with the phone's glaring strengths.

If you're in the market for a phone's phone and respect simplicity, you could do much worse than the 6030; it knows its role and performs it very well.

Nice Little Phone

Nokia put a lot of thought into this little device. It works the way you would expect.

The menu is very well designed. Battery life is excellent and will last several days with moderate use. Call quality, tested in different cities, is very good with adequate volume. You can send and receive text and IM. Using T-Zones, you can check your account status and latest news. Believe it or not, you can change the exterior shell.

One last point. A lot of otherwise good phones can be ruined by a carrier putting their own junk on it resulting in confusing menus and buggy software. Fortunately, TMO has not meddled with the software and it works fine.

Very Nice Basic Phone

This phone is cute, and downright tiny -- it fits horizontal in most of my shirt pockets, which keeps it from falling out when I bend over, so for me that is a great feature that keeps my phone safe without needing a case.

The back battery cover is very loose, so I put 2 Post-Its on the inside of it, and now the cover sits tight. I can pull it off, but it no longer does so on its own.

The Battery and Signal indicators were difficult to see, so I changed the Contrast to lowest setting, which should really be called Brightness, IMO. Then I changed Dislplay Color Scheme to "Red" which gave me excellent readability againts the blue wallpaper. But this only works best when changing the Contrast.

Speaking of Signal : I live in the hills, and have trouble with some radio signals, and many TV signals when using an antenna, but have had no problems with this phone's strong signal.

The Ring tones are few, but I just want a reliable phone, not a toy :-) Some of them Vibrate as they ring.

The FM Radio is pretty cool, and sounds good with the 4-Section headset. (The Sections on the plug; standard "Universal" stereo headset and phones have 3 sections on the plug).

That brings me to the non-Universal Headset. I have tested with 3 different Universal (3-Section) headsets, and the Sound comes from the phone itself -- not the headset. But my voice does enter into the headset microphone. I have never used a MP3 music phone, so 4-Section headsets may be becoming the new standard.

I tested the my "cheap" little Nokia 6030 against my $400 TREO when placing a call to my answering machine -- with, and without -- headsets. My answering machine played them all back pretty much the same, although both phones sounded better without the headsets -- with this caveat : sound quality to the recipient can be better or worse, depending on the distance and angle you hold the phone to your mouth.

Summary: For me, a phone is not a toy. Nokia 6030 is small, stylish, reliable,

--Only one, and this is probably Cingular's fault, but there are only 6 ringers and 2 wallpapers included with the phone. They used to have 20-30 rings, but I guess they're getting greedy and thinking I'll buy more from them. Thankfully I don't need anything other than a normal ring. This one has a desk phone ring and an old phone ring which work for me.

No bluetooth and no camera are not cons as this is not a high-end phone, so I don't count off for that. For the person who just wants a phone to make calls and text message with, you can't go wrong here.

Excellent Work Nokia... Next Stop, BLUETOOTH

I must say, this is an awesome little phone. For a phone as inexpensive as this one, I haven't had this much bang for the book since.... ever. This phone handles all of the daily chores of any other entry level phone, but Nokia style. Anyone who has ever owned a Nokia, know what I'm talking about. The reception on this thing is outstanding, the screen is very crisp, and the voice quality is as good as I've had. The form factor is perfect (not to big or small) and the buttons are raised just enough and easy to hit even if you have big hands. Oh and for the teenagers out there, yeah it does play MP3 ring tones as well! But I really wish that Nokia would come out with a version of this phone that had BLUETOOTH! They could really make a killing, especially on Cingular, by coming out with a low end BLUETOOTH phone w/o camera. But that aside this is would be a great phone for anyone. I give it the Nokia 6030 for Cingular a 4.5 out of 5!

2ND Generation Nokia 3120

This phone is the latest version of the super little mighty mite Nokia 3120, with an FM Radio added, 1800 band removed, pop-port changed, standard barrel headphone jack added and screen resolution(crispness) improved from 4K to 65K pixels. Size is same.

I am submitting this review to reinforce all the positives already mentioned about this phone and to answer those wishing for this phone with blue-tooth. It is the Nokia 6021.With blue-tooth, mp3 player, and camera it is the Nokia 6230 or later 6230i(these two have had some reliability issues, see reviews).

For the reviewer complaining about the signal level gage, set wallpaper to NONE and set color scheme to Orange. This will increase viewability in all screens by 10 times.

For those who never can never seem to get enough receive volume from a phone, as soon as the call you made has answered on this one, or you have answered an incoming call (both indicated by LOUDSPEAKER text label showing up in place of HEADSET text over the upper right soft key), select LOUDSPEAKER and adjust the volume using the right and left navigation keys. You will be impressed. Warning: do not select LOUDSPEAKER then put the phone directly to your ear before checking/setting volume. It is a loudspeaker first and can be adjusted down for a loud receiver.

a good basic phone and backup phone

After my phone broke two days ago, I began using my grandmother's Nokia 6030 phone, which she hardly uses. In the short amount of time I have used it, I have found some positive things about it. This phone has a long battery life and good audio quality. The speaker volume is better than on my much newer and, now non functioning, LG Xpression. I like the physical buttons and how you get firm feedback when you press them. I like how you can customize the arrow keys so that you can access other parts of the phone that do not make the phone launch the internet. Texting is alright. I also like that it is small and compact and fits in my purse. I also wanted to point out that this phone does, in fact, read the new SIM cards that AT&T has.

One of the downsides of this phone is that it feels cheap, like it's going to break just from holding it and pressing the buttons. It is not a world phone. So, if you need a world phone, I suggest looking for something else. There are also not that many ringtones to choose from. There is also not a camera on this phone, which is why I left the camera rating field blank.

All in all, this phone is great for a back up phone. It is a phone and not anything else, really. If you are someone looking for a cheap basic phone that does not have a bunch of added features, or if you need a backup phone, you may want to check this one out.

Good phone for an elderly person

My grandmother got this phone for emergency purposes and it works really well for her. It's a good basic phone. She did not want a phone that had a bunch of features. She just wanted one that made and received calls. Below are the pros and cons of the device.